updated 04:30 pm EST, Fri January 4, 2008

Warner Blu-ray Exclusive

In a potentially major upset in the conflict between movie standards, Warner Brothers today said it would drop its support for the HD DVD format, switching all its future titles to the competing Blu-ray standard for HD versions. The move is prompted by an evident shift by movie buyers towards the Blu-ray format and is meant both to consolidate Warner's efforts and prevent users from having to choose between competing formats for the same title. The choice is a reversal but a necessary one in an industry where the field appears to be destroying itself, Warner says.

"Warner Bros. has produced in both high-definition formats in an effort to provide consumer choice, foster mainstream adoption and drive down hardware prices," says Warner chief Barry Meyer. "[But this] is a strategic decision focused on the long term and the most direct way to give consumers what they want. The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger."

HD DVD versions of movies will continued to be produced until May 2008, when Warner switches to producing only Blu-ray titles as well as lower-resolution DVD discs.

The decision could prove fatal to the primarily Toshiba-backed HD DVD format both for movie players and computers. As noted in previous leaks that have now been confirmed by the announcement, Warner's switch is expected to lead to 70 percent of all HD movies shipping only in Blu-ray, giving customers little incentive to buy either HD DVD movie readers or equivalent drives in computers. This is expected to have indirect repercussions for Microsoft, which has heavily endorsed HD DVD for both Windows PCs and through the Xbox 360's HD DVD add-on.

Sony is often considered the chief proponent of Blu-ray but has also received support from several large AV and computer firms for the standard, including Dell and Pioneer. Other firms such as Apple and HP have so far remained relatively neutral and have either declined to commit to a particular format in hardware so far (in Apple's case) or have supported both (such as HP).

This a huge

not over yet

This move makes it very unlikely that the format war will have any outcome other than a Blu-ray victory, but that might not happen for a year or more with Paramount and Universal still exclusive to HD DVD. There will probably be some good deals on HD DVD movies next holiday shopping season.

Hurry the h*** up

Frankly I could care less which format "wins", since we all basically lose as long as there's competition. Why they couldn't have pulled their collective corporate heads out of their collective corporate hindquarters before going on the market (which, for all its shortcomings, WAS done with DVD) is beyond me.

Though I do have to admit, as little love as I have for Sony it's nice to see MS's horse fall behind in the race.

Disk is dead

Frankly, disk is dying already and will be dead within a few years. Networks are just too fast and cheap. I can download a movie in less time than it takes to drive to the store to buy a disk. I can also rip it and put it on my network h.d. and watch it on Apple TV, Xbox 360 or any of my computers, iPods or iPhone.

I see no reason to buy disks to watch media anymore. I don't even use them in my car, nor do I use them for data storage or transfer. Heck I don't even use flash drives anymore. Gigabit wired and 802.11n wireless are so fast I don't see the point.

ok

disc for me

My network is only 1.5 Mbps and I don't have an AppleTV or iPhone, so keep those DVD's coming. I have an iPod but ripping is a pain and so is watching video on that little screen. And those video files take up too much disk space. So yeah, keep those DVD's coming for a long time.

x

BlueRay is far more superior than HDDVD in quality and storage 50GB. However HDDVD is cheaper because the technology is almost identical to the aging DVD. If BlueRay becomes the standard it will be as affordable as HDDVD.

Pricing

Funny how DVD pricing came down over the years with no competition. HD DVD fanboys seem to conveniently forget that fact. Now that Blu-ray will indeed be the new standard, prices will continue to fall as adoption rates rise, exactly the same as what happened over the last 10 years with DVD players and movies.

Microshit

peter...

...you can't be serious. why would DVD technology, which is on the way out, go up? no one is going to be willing to increase what they already pay for a lame duck technology, just because Blu-ray discs charge a valid premium for the short term.

if anything, that could have happened when the format war was more even. but now that it looks like Blu-ray will be the HD format winner, there is even less reasons to cling to DVD, even at lower prices.

in the end, the internet will win and disks won't matter in the few years. but in that interstitial timeframe, i'll be enjoying blu-ray rentals while i bide my time.

A Few things

Yes DVD prices fell, and so will Blu-Ray, even if it's the only format. However it would fall much faster if there was competition.

Quality between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray at this point is identical. As content takes advantage of 1080p we'll start to see the difference, but for most blockbuster movies you won't see much (if any) difference.

I wish this would have come out earlier. I would have gotten a PS3 for x-mas instead of the HD-DVD addition to my X-Box 360.

You don't need 46Mbs to watch Hi Def over the web. You need an excellent buffering system and a decent broadband connection. I've rented several hi-def movies through my X-Box 360. After less then 10 minutes you can watch the entire movie from beginning to end. If Apple ever gets rentable HD content on iTunes, AND it works as seamlessly as the xbox, I'll get an Apple TV

Downloads are not as good

The BD experience is both video and audio. Downloaded HD movies are like MP3 while BD movies are like SACD. Whether BD succeeds are not is upto the people. SACD did not. MP3 (and AAC) did. So, BD might stay a niche format for a while. I love BD. I have a PS3. I have a Klipsch Reference series 7.1 system. I have a Harman Kardon AVR 745 flagship receiver. I listen to the PCM or Dolby TrueHD tracks (with bitrates upto 13.6Mbps just for the audio). The video bitrate can reach 40Mbps. Now, downloads will be severely crippled. Some people may not care, but I do. Then, I also listen to SACDs using my PS3. :)

DVD is not dead

If you think DVD's are on the way out you could not be more wrong. DVD's will eventually give way to something else but that will not be for many years yet. You may be able to watch movies over the internet but from what I've seen the quality does not come match regular DVD quality much less HD DVD quality. I do have a high speed connection and either the frame rate is lower or the quality is lower than DVD. Take Hi-Def for a minute. If a Hi-Def movie is say 30 GB in size then if you have a high speed connection of 5Mb/s it would take you 13 hours to transfer the movie at it's full HD quality. Remember the movie is compressed on the DVD so if the DVD movie is 30 GB you'll be transferring 30 GB of data over the network. In order to get HD quality over the internet comparable to HD content on a disc transfer rates would need to be about 5-6 times faster than they are now. This is NOT going to happen anytime soon. Even if some people can get regular DVD quality over the internet if you want to watch something more than just a couple of times it would be more cost effective to buy the disc to keep renting it. The only other alternative would be a subscription service in which case if you don't watch movies a lot you'll be wasting money. Either way don't give up your DVD or HD DVD player just yet.

Spinning Disk Will Go

Spinning disk will go away and probably very soon. The format war may be even trumped by the new device.
Even now they could easily make a credit card size storage device that holds a complete HD movie (The Movie Card, TMC for short). Memory Sticks have theoretical limit of 32 gig. Unlike a Memory Sticks it would only need to be read only. The only reason they don't make them yet has to be price.
As far as downloads go that may become very popular but many people still want to own a tangible object (VHS tape, CD, DVD, 8-Track, & TMC). Tangible objects are insurable, exchangeable, and trackable.

vb101...

DVD is not dead yet. and cassette tapes weren't dead in 1989. but cassettes were dead in 92! and the pace of technology is increasing.

the point is: HD and DVD discs, of any format, are on the way out. the internet will keep getting faster. and as people continue to get used to the convenience of shopping online, they will be less and less likely to go to the video store. do i need to "feel" or "smell" or "taste" a movie? f*** no.

even if a movie takes an hour to download... big deal. you set up a queue, just like netflix, and you line up some choices. you come back from work, or whatever the f*** it is you do (or don't do), then you come home and watch them.

how big a stretch is that to grasp? yikes. where have you been over the last several decades while the world has gone screaming past you?

spinning disk...

...will be around for a pretty long time. Regardless of fanbois salivating for the 'future' of all things being downloaded, or memory stick formats - spinning disk will hold as a most flexible, and inexpensive format.

- cheap to manufacture
- inexpensive to buy
- tangible, and permanent (more or less)
- the medium IS the archive/backup
- plus, it gives the consumer the sense of ownership

Online/Downloaded media will only get further limited and locked down, particularly when it comes to movies, and regarding memory stick formats - if you're interested in paying a premium, go right ahead.

The industry wants Blu-ray to win in order for them to be able to replace DVDs for good - because DVDs are easily copied and Blu-ray is harder to copy. Ideally, they want to make it near impossible to copy (which should be near impossible to do), but at the present time, a Blu-ray disk is not as easy to rip as a simple DVD is, for example.

Add to that, that the VCD format still rules Asia (where most people can not afford DVDs, much less Blu-ray), and you will have spinning disks hanging around for a very long time.

Creative....

It's the editors at MacNN that decided that what Creative is doing is to 'fight' Apple's nano, when any sane person would understand that all Crative is doing is try to establish a supremacy over all other MP3/MP4 players - which is all they can do.

Further, considering that Creative is technically allied with Apple through the prior patent litigation, it's highly unlikely for them wanting to 'take on' anything on Apple's map.

Oh, and Creative players *are* very popular in Korea, where they command nearly 80% of the market (and the iPod holds a very low 10% or so).

If anything, Creative will make every effort to maintain that lead, in view of the arrival of Apple's iPhone very soon...

Usability

We all have too many old format players, media and ways to combine them iinto a media centre.

I favor BlueRay but it is incompatible with standard DVDs so has to be yet another drive, remote etc. At least HDDVD let you play DVDs on the same device.

The whole issue of super sized movies of extremely fine detail is really a non-issue as most people are opting for lower resolution, easily managed digital versions. I am well into converting my large movie collection the same as I did my music collection and realising that I will never live long enough to see and hear it all.

Higher resolution was really the only feasible defence against increasing piracy, if only the industry can convince consumers to go for it. It is equivalent to chaining an anvil to evry pair of sneakers to prevent shoplifting.

My principle interest in BlueRay becoming a common, affordable, convenient standard is to have a medium capable of backing up my large HDs.

test

WHY?

Well, my first post was not posted, so I will repost. I am format neutral and own both HdDvd and Blu-Ray. It has not been mentioned that the Blu-Ray group paid $500 million for Warner to go Blu-Ray exclusive. I think this is wrong! I think the public should decide who the winner is, not the company that buys out the movie companies.

HD-DVD replacement

Since Warner Bros. provided films in HD-DVD and I preferred the format anyway since HD-DVD is not as tightly locked down by copy protection schemes as Blu-Ray, I purchased an HD-DVD player and an even dozen Warner Bros. HD-DVDs for it for Christmas. One week later, Warner Bros. announces the elimination of HD-DVD support.

I assume they will take the $500 million bribe Sony paid them to go exlusively Blu-Ray and provide free replacements for every single one of my Warner Bros. HD-DVDs along with a significant trade-in discount to upgrade my new HD-DVD player to Blu-Ray instead. Just waiting for them to announce the details of the conversion program.

slower

The internet has not gotten faster for me. AT&T raise the price for DSL so I went from 3.0Mbps down to 1.5Mbps, so no movie downloads for me. I will keep buying DVD's and leave downloads for the next generation of techies.